Hot Ice, Cold Hearts

This episode starts off with a daring heist of some valuable jewellery in a museum in Mexico.

However when one of the crooks henchman gets greedy. He is injected with the venom of a stonefish and thrown overboard. The young man survives as thankfully Quincy and his girlfriend were holidaying in his boat in Catalina Island for the 4th of July celebrations.

There are two people also holidaying in the island who take a close interest in Quincy's activities. The local police busy with the 4th of July celebrations are not convinced about Quincy's wild theories as stonefish are not found in that part of America.

The mechanics of the plot is very sloppy. If your victim is going to survive, then poisoning them with the venom of a stonefish is not the way to go. Also throwing them into the sea in broad daylight was a mistake especially as the man even though he was infected with the poison did not drown and someone managed to call for help because he was rescued.

A mildly diverting tale that shows off its location shooting, a good roster of guest stars such as Stuart Whitman but a weak story.

Hot Ice, Cold Hearts starts off with three burglars stealing rare and exquisite diamond jewelry out of a museum. Later, they are hiding out on their boat in the waters near Avalon, a resort area in the Catalina Islands, where Quincy (Jack Klugman) and his girlfriend Lee (Lynette Mettey) are also enjoying the July 4th weekend on his boat. When one of the henchmen of the burglars is found trying to help himself to the goods, they inject him with the venom of a poisonous stonefish and throw him in the water to drown. He is quickly rescued and brought ashore where Quincy is called in to assist in reviving him. Quincy cannot fathom how the man was bitten by a poisonous fish native to Africa and also cries foul when the man later dies in the hospital of respiratory failure leading him to investigate further.

I didn't find this episode to be as strong as the ones that preceded it in terms of the plot or the guest stars. You will see many familiar faces of character actors that made the rounds appearing on many shows in the 70s, but I didn't find any of them to be that compelling here and felt their performances were more caricature. There are some especially ridiculous scenes where the sheriff is so frustrated by Quincy that he threatens him with violence and does some type of Kung Fu-like move. I also couldn't believe both of the murder attempts in the water were conducted in broad daylight with other boaters all over the place nearby and no one witnessed anything. Seriously??

One thing I did find interesting was that this episode takes place over the July 4th holiday and you see some bicentennial decorations in the background of various scenes since it was 1976. This episode aired in January 1977, so not sure if they actually filmed it right at the time of the bicentennial, but the timing seems to be about right.

I saw the full length version of this episode and I'd say it probably could use a good editing. It's very slow by today's standards. There's never any mystery to viewers. We know exactly who the criminals are and what they are up to, so there is no suspense ever, especially since viewers also know Quincy will also figure things out in the end. This also came out very soon after Jaws. Parts of the plot are such a direct rip off, it's hard to believe they were playing it straight and that this wasn't a parody. All we're left with is over an hour of Quincy yelling, his girlfriend constantly whining about being left behind, and a bunch of officials telling him to butt out, the same as we've seen in the previous 3 movies but with a less engaging plot. At least there are nice views around Catalina.

I watched Quincy as a kid and remember really enjoying it. I don't remember if certain aspects of the longer movies stick around for the weekly shows. I hope not, since they are already clichéd and repetitive after movie number 4. I'm already tired of his weasely boss and how all other doctors and cops are so lazy and/or incompetent. There's Quincy's constant yelling and lecturing. It does get old quickly. Again, this works in a one-off, TV movie, but I wouldn't want to sit through it weekly. Same with watching him jerk around his girlfriend and then watching her put up with it. He's right to investigate cases and all, but she doesn't need to always be there waiting, staying ready for him whenever he beckons. The whole attitude of the show is so stereotypical of certain problematic Seventies ideals, while taking itself very seriously. We know how those ideals played out in the real world.

In "Hot Ice, Cold Hearts", Quincy decides to take his girlfriend (Lynette Mettey) to Catalina Island for the Independence Day celebrations. Naturally, murder and mayhem follows Quincy (just like Jessica Fletcher) and soon a young man is found apparently suffering from the effects of Stonefish venom--though this super-toxic fish is NOT native to these waters. The guy appears to be on the road to recovery after Quincy ministers to him. However, soon the guy dies any way! What is actually happening is that a gang of Mexican jewel thieves are injecting their enemies with the deadly venom in order to cover up their crimes.

This episode has a lot of logical problems. For example, you don't immediately die from the toxin being injected and yet neither victim manages to tell what happened to them. The most ridiculous was when the professor (Robert Alda) is scuba diving and he's injected by a diver with a hypo. Wouldn't you think he'd notice this and tell Quincy (who is waiting above in the boat)?! Duh!! There are a lot of other problems as well such as the insane discussion between Quincy and the Sheriff (Stuart Whitman) where the Sheriff begins, for no apparent reason, showing off his karate skills! Finally, the smarty-pants professor is about to go off scuba diving...ALONE. This is not only unwise but insane.

Overall, the show is a weak but entertaining episode. A bit dumb but worth seeing. And, by the way, although he's not listed in the credits, Fernando Lamas also stars in the show and I have no idea why he's not in the IMDb credits--especially since he was a major star

I really enjoyed this series back in the day, or at least that's what I remember. This episode, however, is the worst of 70s lame. It's Quincy, not Columbo, but they clearly forgot that detail. 19 minutes in and you know who did it. And not the great acting of Jack Klugman, guest stars Fernando Lamas, Stuart Whitman, or even the deliciously lovely Marianna Hill can save this terrible plot. Did I mention that Quincy is "on vacation" in an exotic locale with his boat? Still, that doesn't save this sewage. All of the energy goes into Quincy trying to persuade an honest but lazy cop (Whitman), avoid the suave but evil Lamas, the slimy and weird Andrew Prine, and the usual complement of lazy fools, and self-serving dweebs, while neglecting his girlfriend. Yuck. Skip this episode unless you're a true series addict.